Spin reorientations in R2Fe14-xCoxB systems (R = Pr,Nd and Er)

The effect of cobalt substitution on spin reorientation phenomena in R₂Fe_14-xCo_xB systems (R = Pr, Nd, Er) was studied by means of bulk magnetometry in the temperature range 4.2–1100 K. It was established that in the Nd-based system the introduction of cobalt resulted not only in a shift of the low temperature spin reorientation (cone to axis) but also triggered, for x ⩾ 10, an appearance of a second spin reorientation (axis to plane) at high temperature. In the Pr-based system, for x ⩾ 9.5, a high temperature spin reorientation (axis to plane) was also observed. Its dependence on Co content was determined. For the Er-based system, an increase of the spin reorientation temperature (plane to axis) was observed as more cobalt was introduced into that system. It was also established that the tetragonal single-phase materials in this system exist only up to x = 5. Temperature-composition diagrams are presented, indicating types of spin arrangements observed in the investigated systems.     

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Ni and Mn substituted Nd2Fe14B compounds

Measurements of the effects of Ni and Mn substitutions for Fe on the magnetic properties of Nd₂Fe₁₄B compounds are reported. The Curie temperature is slightly increased with Ni substitution whilst in the case of replacement of Fe by Mn it is reduced drastically. A monotonic decrease of both the lattice parameters a and c is observed. The saturation magnetization is decreased by both Ni and especially Mn substitutions. The composition dependence of both the reorientation spin transition temperature and the cone angle has been measured. The influence of the 3d metal substitution on the Nd anisotropy has been measured and discussed. The composition dependence of the room temperature anisotropy field values, which is an important figure of merit for permanent magnet applications, decreases slightly in the case of Ni and drastically for Mn substitution. A comparison with the case of Co substitution has been made.     

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Er2Fe14B

A rotation-magnetic-alignment method was used to align fine-powdered (< 20 μm) Er₂Fe₁₄B at room temperature while the easy magnetization direction of Er₂Fe₁₄B lies in the basal plane. X-ray diffraction was used to check the magnetic alignment. For the first time, the temperature dependence of the anisotropy field of Er₂Fe₁₄B was measured in a wide temperature range from about 170 to 530 K. The anisotropy field was determined using the SPD technique in a pulsed-field magnetometer from 170 to 320 K (T_SI = 323 K) on a magnetically aligned sample and from 330 to 530 K (T_C = 550 K) on a bulk polycrystal.     

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy in RAu2Ge2 (R = La, Ce and Pr) single crystals

Anisotropic magnetic properties of single crystalline RAu₂Ge₂ (R=La, Ce and Pr) compounds are reported. LaAu₂Ge₂ exhibits a Pauli-paramagnetic behaviour whereas CeAu₂Ge₂ and PrAu₂Ge₂ show an antiferromagnetic ordering with Nèel temperatures T_N = 13.5 and 9 K, respectively. The anisotropic magnetic response of Ce and Pr compounds establishes [0 0 1] as the easy axis of magnetization and a sharp spin-flip type metamagnetic transition is observed in the magnetic isotherms with H // [0 0 1]. The transport and magnetotransport behaviour of these compounds, in particular LaAu₂Ge₂, indicate an anisotropic Fermi surface. The magnetoresistivity of CeAu₂Ge₂ apparently reveals the presence of a residual Kondo interaction. A crystal electric field analysis of the anisotropic susceptibility in conjunction with the experimentally inferred Schottky heat capacity enables us to propose a crystal electric field level scheme for Ce and Pr compounds. For CeAu₂Ge₂ our values are in excellent agreement with the previous reports on neutron diffraction. The heat capacity data in LaAu₂Ge₂ show clearly the existence of Einstein contribution to the heat capacity.     

Random anisotropy in R2CuO4 (R=Nd, Pr, Sm, Gd, Eu) quasi-2D antiferromagnets

The mechanisms of random anisotropy produced by an an effective coupling between rare-earth ion moments and orbital momenta of Cu₂₊ ions through spin fluctuations is studied in R₂CuO₄ crystals. The effective random-anisotropy fields are estimated from an analysis of experimental data for R₂CuO₄ crystals (R=Eu, Pr, Gd). Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1259–1263 (July 1999)     

Spontaneous magnetostriction in R2Fe14B (R=Y,Nd, Gd,Tb, Er)

Thermal expansion anomalies of R₂Fe₁₄B (R=Y, Nd, Gd, Tb, Er) stoichiometric compounds were studied by X-ray diffraction with high-energy synchrotron radiation using a Debye–Scherrer geometry in temperature range of ∼10–1000 K. A large invar effect with a corresponding large temperature dependence of lattice parameters ∼10–15 K above their Curie temperatures (T_c) are observed. The a-axes show a larger invar effect than the c-axes in all compounds. The spontaneous magnetostrain of the lattices and bonds are calculated. The iron sublattice is shown to dominate the volumetric spontaneous magnetostriction of the compounds and the contribution from the rare-earth sublattice is roughly proportional to the spin magnetic moment of the rare earths. The bond-length changes are consistent with the theoretical spin-density calculation. The average bonds magnetostrain around Fe sites is approximately proportional to their magnetic moments.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of ternary carbides R2Fe14C (R = Pr,Sm, Gd,Tb, Dy,Ho, Er,Tm, Lu) with Nd2Fe14B structure type

The R₂Fe₁₄C compounds were prepared from the elements by arc melting and long-time annealing (more than 480 hrs) at temperatures below 1200 K. They crystallize with the tetragonal Nd₂Fe₁₄B structure type as shown by X-ray powder diffraction analysis. All samples contain at least 70 vol.% of the R₂Fe₁₄C phase. Both saturation magnetization values (42–133 Am²/kg) and Curie temperatures (493–613 K) are lower than those measured on the corresponding borides.     

Atomic origin of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in Nd(2)Fe(14)B

The magnetic moment reversal at each of the two inequivalent Nd sites in a single crystal of ferromagnetic Nd(2)Fe(14)B is probed by dichroic resonant diffraction of circularly polarized x rays. The results, supported by theory, show that the c-axis intrinsic magnetic stability of this superior permanent magnetic material arises predominantly at one of the Nd sites (g). The other site (f) undermines magnetic stability by favoring a magnetic moment orientation in the basal plane.     

CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND INTRINSIC MAGENTIC PROPERTIES OF R2Fe14BNx

We found that the nitrogen atoms can enter into the R₂Fe₁₄B structure by a proper heat treatment in nitrogen atmosphere. The crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of R₂Fe₁₄BN_x, R =Nd and Y, have been investigated by using X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques as well as magnetic measurements. The neutron diffrac-tion data show that the nitrogen atoms occupy the 4f interstices. The interstitial nitrogen atoms were found to have an effect of enhancing Curie temerature, whereas, decreasing saturation magnetization and magneto-crystalline anisotropy. The rela-tionship of the crystal structure and the intrinsic magnetic properties of this crystal is discussed.     

Positive muon spectroscopy of Nd2Fe14B and Pr2Fe14B

We have performed positive muon spin rotation measurements on polycrystalline samples of Nd₂Fe₁₄B and Pr₂Fe₁₄B in zero applied field. In both samples a single sharp μSR line was observed which was unexpected in this complicated structure. The temperature dependence of the muon frequency for Nd₂Fe₁₄B clearly reflects the spin reorientation below 150 K and can be explained qualitatively by assuming that only the c-axis component of a magnetization is sampled by the muon. A smooth decrease of the muon frequency with increasing temperature is observed for Pr₂Fe₁₄B.     

Crystal field in RPdIn (R=Ce, Pr, Nd) compounds

The RPdIn compounds (R = rare earth) crystallise in the hexagonal ZrNiAl-type crystal structure. The compounds from this family exhibit a great variety of interesting magnetic properties including heavy fermion behaviour. In order to get a deeper insight into nature of magnetism of RPdIn with light rare earths elements (La–Nd) an inelastic neutron scattering experiment was performed. For compounds with Pr and Nd excitations due to crystal field were clearly distinguished. On the other hand, interesting behaviour for the CePdIn sample was observed. The sample exhibits no signs of crystal field excitations, likely due to highly delocalised Ce 4f states leading to its heavy fermion behaviour.     

Electronic structure and magnetism of R(Fe,Si)12 (R = Y, Nd)

The newly developed full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW) and local orbitals (lo) based on standard APW methods are briefly introduced, and the structure and magnetic properties of R(Fe, Si)12 compounds (R = Y, Nd) are calculated using the method. The distribution of Si at different sites is analyzed based on total energy of one crystal unit with structure having been optimized. The characters of magnetic moments, total density of states (TDOS) and partial density of states (PDOS) for different crystal sites Si occupies are obtained and analyzed. The results show that the total magnetic moments of RFe10Si2 (R = Y, Nd) are larger than those of RFe10M2 (M = Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mo and W) and the hybridization mechanism is seen as follows. Si(8j) reduce the magnetic moments of Fe at three sites, however, Si(8f) mainly reduce the magnetic moments of Fe(8i) and Fe(8j) atoms. The Curie temperature is markedly enhanced by the introduction of Si atoms according to spin fluctuation of DOS at Fermi level.     

Effect of hydrogenation on the magnetic and magnetoelastic properties of R 2Fe14B compounds (R = Nd, Gd, Er, Lu)

The temperature dependences of the magnetization σ(T), magnetostriction λ(T), and linear thermal expansion coefficient α(T) of R ₂Fe₁₄B intermetallic compounds (R = Nd, Gd, Er, Lu) and of their hydrides R ₂Fe₁₄BH_2.5 are studied. The magnetization was measured with a pendulum magnetometer within the temperature interval 77–700 K in a magnetic field H = 500 Oe. Magnetostriction and thermal expansion were measured using the tensometric technique in the temperature interval 77–420 K. It was established that Gd₂Fe₁₄BH_2.5 undergoes a spin-reorientational (SR) transition at T _SR = 235 K. In compounds with Nd and Er, anomalies associated with the SR transition were found in the σ(T), λ(T), and α(T) curves. The SR transition temperatures were refined and magnetic phase diagrams were constructed for the compounds studied. The α(T) curves of the R ₂Fe₁₄BH_2.5 hydrides (R = Nd, Er) revealed anomalies of a nonmagnetic origin associated with hydrogen ordering in the crystal lattice of these compounds.     

取向Pr2Fe14B与Nd2Fe14B多晶磁化曲线的计算

基于单离子晶场模型 ,提出了计算稀土 Fe(Co)金属间化合物取向多晶样品磁化曲线的方法 .用此方法计算了取向Pr2 Fe14 B和Nd2 Fe14 B多晶的高场磁化曲线 ,计算中使用了拟合化合物单晶磁化曲线得到的交换场与晶场参数 .计算曲线与实验曲线相符合 .     

Effect of Cu and Ga additions on the anisotropy of R2Fe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite die-upset magnets (R=Pr,Nd)

Fully dense nanocomposite magnets containing hard R₂Fe₁₄B and soft α-Fe phases were produced from both melt-spun and mechanically milled alloys by hot pressing and subsequent die upsetting. Although R-lean R–Fe–B alloys that do not contain the grain-boundary R-rich phase are known not to be susceptible to texture development by means of die upsetting, we found that small additions of Cu make the texturing possible. The resulting microstructure of oriented platelet grains is similar to that of the R-rich die-upset magnets. Properties of the Cu-containing R₂Fe₁₄B/α-Fe die-upset magnets can be further improved by adding Ga. The anisotropic Pr₁₂Fe₈₀Cu₁Ga₁B₆ magnet made from mechanically milled alloy and containing 17.2 wt% α-Fe had a remanence of 13 kG and a maximum energy product of 23.4 MG Oe. The Pr_11.25Fe_80.75Cu₁Ga₁B₆ magnet made from melt-spun alloy and containing 16.2 wt% α-Fe had a maximum energy product of 19.9 MG Oe. The low coercivity of 3–4 kOe typical for the Cu-containing R₂Fe₁₄B/α-Fe die-upset magnets is due to the relatively coarse α-Fe grains. The latter grains are too large for intergranular exchange interaction, but, nevertheless, they are well coupled with the R₂Fe₁₄B grains by a long-range magnetostatic interaction.